Amid the debris left by the October 18 landslides and flash floods, it looked like Nasser Palakkunnel was standing in the middle of a brutally mined riverbed. A tiny stream of water was making its way down through the boulders strewn around. The water flowed over the concrete roofs of the houses that fell down in the flash floods. A woman was washing her laundry in the newly formed stream. A few days ago, the river was flowing behind her house. Now, the water has come right in front of it.
“These are all private properties owned by the people who lived here,” Nasser, a middle-aged man, told this correspondent, pointing to the vast swathes of land around him. Then he went into the details. “That 10-cent plot was purchased by a person, just two months ago, for Rs 7 lakh. Now, nothing exists there, except boulders and debris. This is a 25-cent plot. It has become useless now; nothing can be done on this land,” he said.
A few metres down lies the terrace of the house of Shallet, a driver who had drowned in the flood water. Nasser's house stands on the other side of the stream. It looks intact from outside, but he doesn't want to live there anymore. He is afraid it will not survive if another round of landslide triggers a flash flood. His fear is justified.
Nasser lives at Mukkulam, one of the worst landslide-hit areas in the Kokkayar grama panchayat in Idukki district. The gram panchayat officials who took stock of the calamity have identified 53 houses as either destroyed or uninhabitable. Nasser does not know if his house has been counted in the list. but he definitely wants it to be. “I don't feel it safe to live here anymore. I request the government to include my family in the list of the families to be rehabilitated,” he said.
The revenue department is yet to finalise the list of damaged or uninhabitable houses. According to a preliminary assessment by the panchayat members, the number may be around 1,000. The number is expected to go up in the final list and the village requires a massive rehabilitation effort.
Idukki district collector Sheeba George, after visiting the area on October 23, had said that most parts of the panchayat became unlivable. The government had instructed the panchayat to identify land for rehabilitation.
“All but two wards in the panchayat are situated along the Pullakayar. The landslide experience has taught us that it is not safe to let people stay along the river banks,” panchayat president Priya Mohanan told Onmanorama.
She pegged the losses in the panchayat to the tune of Rs 200 crore, based on a preliminary assessment. She said Mukkulam, Narakampuzha, Vadakkemala and Meloram were the worst affected wards. Mulankunnu, Kodikuthy, Boyce, Poovanchi, Kokkayar, Kuttiplangad, Vembli, Kanakapuram and Enthayar East wards also suffered the brunt of the disaster.
According to the initial assessment by the panchayat members, 359 houses were destroyed in the disaster while another 400 were partially damaged. They count 195 houses, which stand intact, as uninhabitable as they are located in areas prone to landslides and floods. However, this number could be finalised only based on a scientific study.
Eight bridges damaged
The panchayat has also suffered huge infrastructure losses, including roads and bridges. Eight bridges, small and big, were damaged in the floods, including the Enthayar bridge connecting Kottayam and Idukki districts. A portion of the bridge was washed away in the floods.
Raju lives near the bridge. The flash floods washed away the foundation of his house. Eventually, the plot where he used to cultivate different crops became a swathe of mud and slurry.
“When the water began to gush with a violent force, trees that were uprooted got stuck under the bridge, blocking the water flow, like a dam. The water then overflowed through the nearby plots and roads, flooding the entire area. Finally, the water washed away the bridge and the road and flowed to this side. Had the trees not blocked the water flow, all these houses would be intact. By the time I came out to move my bike to a safer place, the front yard had already been flooded. I moved the motor to the sit out, but the water began rising swiftly. We pushed the motor inside, locked the door and ran away,” Raju recollected how he escaped the October 18 horror along with his wife. His son, daughter-in-law and their kid had gone to a hospital during that time.
Two 'safe' wards?
If the gravity of the damage caused by the recent disasters are any yardstick to measure the safety of a place, it seems there are only two wards that can be considered safe in the panchayat. They are Boyce and Mulankunnu. However, the claim does not have any scientific backing yet.
Eight houses were inundated in the Boyce ward while a couple of houses were destroyed in landslip. In Mulankunnu, only two houses were damaged. The ward does not have any river or canal flowing through it.
Boyce rehabilitation plan
The panchayat has proposed the government to rehabilitate the people in the surplus land in the Boyce Estate. “We are trying to rehabilitate our people within the panchayat itself. Boyce Estate has enough land to shift the affected families there,” the panchayat president said. However, a decision has to be taken by the state government.
Boyce Estate, sprawling across 1,600 acres, is owned by Kozhikode-based Parison company. they bought the land from the Harrisons Malayalam group. A dispute between the company and the state government has been going on over the ownership of the land for a longtime. K T Binu, who represents the Wagamon division of Idukki district panchayat, said the government should take over or purchase the land needed for rehabilitation from the company. Kokkayar panchayat falls in the Wagamon division.
The state government has announced a compensation of Rs 10 lakh to those who have lost land and houses. Those who lost houses are eligible for an aid of Rs 5 lakh.
Peermade MLA Vazhoor Soman told Onmanorama he also supported the panchayat's demand. He said he and Revenue Minister K Rajan would place a request before the company to give away the required land for rehabilitation.
